North of Montgomery

Where are you from?

As a Tennessean for the last 27 years, I typically start with “I’m originally from Alabama.” If I get a follow up, it’s usually “what part?” My most frequent answer is “I’m from a little town north of Montgomery.”

Why not just say the name of where I grew up? For one, nobody will have heard of it. Two, it actually has three names depending upon whether we’re talking about the town, the community, or the mailing address, which are all different. Why am I not comfortable just saying I’m from Holtville, Alabama? Because they would ask where that is, and we’d end up north of Montgomery again. I could just say Montgomery, but then they’d ask where I went to high school and it wasn’t in Montgomery, so I’d be busted. North of Montgomery is just easier, but I think there’s more to it once you start peeling back the layers.

We’re a product of our environments. I grew up in a small, southern town dominated by school, church, sports, and the outdoors. These environments shape our identity. All the things that were important during those formative years are what I’m still seeking almost forty years later. I work in a small town high school. I love sports and coached football during my first high school job. Given the time and opportunity, I love to be outside in nature. The area I grew up in is known as the “River Region” and there was water five minutes away in any direction. That’s not the case here in Tennessee and I miss it.

We never really leave our hometowns. They stay with us. That’s why I chose this title for this blog. It’s who I am.